Friday, July 20, 2012

The Great Famine 1844-1852, that hit it’s climax in 1846-47, was but one of the many famines of the time, like the potato failures in 1790-1800, 1816, 1822 and 1836. Besides the many mini-famines, fever epidemics were other hazards of life, like the typhus of 1817 and the cholera of 1832.

Saturday, February 11, 2012

After WW-II, in the late 1940’s and early 1950’s,my Grandfather, John Leo McQuaid B1902 and his sons owned and ran the Mansion House Hotel.

The Casino Theater is the building to the left. Before talking films, they showed silent films and used a player piano. In the 1980’s the same player piano was given to my wife, by a lady that sang in the church choir with her. Both of my children learned to play on it. I remember going to see movies, when I was a child, paying 25 cents to get in and 10 cents for a bag of popcorn. I remember buying a Mr. Peanut Bar, I took it into the dark theater. I started eating it, something didn’t feel right. I went out into the light and found it crawling with maggots.The movie would end, and we would exit into the alley, between the buildings.

In 1960, the time of the picture, below, of Main St., there was a Drug store on the left of the Manson House and a Western Auto Hardware Store on the right.

There is a parking lot and Veterans Memorial, where the Mansion House was, today.

Monday, February 6, 2012

My Maternal Grandfather was Joseph Hector Euclid Courchesne born 12 Sep 1892, in Saint-Guillaume-d'Upton, Drummond, Quebec, Canada. His father Cyprien Courchesne born 11 Jun 1859, his mother Marie Delia Melançon born 12 Dec 1860, as well as 9 siblings were also born in Saint-Guillaume-d'Upton. Hector and his wife, Alice Chagnon born 28 Apr 1890, and four of his children came to Ware, Massachusetts in June 1924. Three other children including my mother, were born in Ware Ma.
I remember visits by family from Canada, when I was small. The only information that any of my family ,in the US ,could supply me, was for family on my Grandmothers side. No one had information or pictures for my Grandfathers side. My research resulted in the identification of Hectors siblings. I could not find any lines that led to living cousins. I decided to explore the Ancestory.com message boards. I found one for the Courchesne family, with a post that was made in 2001 by someone looking for info on my Grandfather, Hector Courchesne, and a reply to the first post made in 2004, by the Grandson of Stanislas Courchesne, my Granduncle. I left a message in July of 2011. Jan 27th of 2012 I received an E-mail from the Great Granddaughter of Stanislas Courchesne. We exchanged multiple e-mails, with family information and pictures. I was very happy to receive a picture of Stanislas Courchesne B1886, his wife Marguerite Desserre B1889 and 9 of his 12 children. A wedding picture of his son Romeo Courchesne b1910 with wife, Blanche Ouellette, scans of the memory card, from the funerals of both Stanislas and his wife, pictures of family tomb stones from Belle Vallée , Ontario, Notre Dame de Bonsecour Cemetery. And, scans of several pages of hand written notes containing the names, dates of birth and place of birth for all 12 of Stanislas’s children. Also, a list of the 12 children's,dates of marriage and the name of the person that they married.

About Me

I invite my cousins, far and near, to send me family pictures and stories. I encourage you to talk with your Mothers, Fathers, Uncles, Aunts, and Grandparents. Save their info, stories and pictures, and record them for future generations.